From the Archives
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Old Concord Coach returns to Bath area after 39 years
By James Kiley
Bath-Brunswick Bureau
Phippsburg---Richard S. Hill has a bit of Maine history with an Old west flavor in his garage here.
It's a 130 year old [in 1979] Concord Coach stagecoach built by the Abbot-Downing Co. of Concord, NH. and it is thought to be the third oldest stage coach left in the country.
The stagecoach's historical and sentimental value knows no bounds. It was built in 1849 for a retired sea captain, William Jewell of Phippsburg, and ran passenger routes between Bath and Small Point here before the civil War.
Hill's grandfather, Charles T. Jackson of bath, owned the coach from 1920 through 1940, and when his grandson purchased it this summer, the grand vehicle was a part of the family again after a 39 year hiatus.
"Unfortunately the coach needs a lot of work now," Hill said. "It had been left outside for four or five years in Arizona and has deteriorated some."
The coach is in two pieces, the chassis and the passenger compartment. However Hill is not discouraged with its condition and is planning to restore it as it looked at the turn of the century.
"We don't have any idea what it looked like before it was owned by the Sagadahock House (a Bath hotel) so we'll try to restore it to the way they had it. Mr. (Edward) Rowse is still looking to see if he can find any older information on how it looked," Hill said.
Rowse, of Concord, N.H., works with the Concord Coach Society and Hill has been using his advice in purchasing the coach and planning its restoration.
"We estimate it will take between $10,000 and $12,000---including the purchase price --- to have it restored. I can't do all of that right away but even if it takes 10 years, we'll still restore it," Hill said.
"The first thing we have to do is take the driver's box off and tip it upside down so we can fix the bottom. The framework of the coach will have to be repaired, too, but replacing the panels on the bottom, which were made of real thin bass wood might be the hardest thing to do," he said.
Hill plans to do a lot of the work himself but will hire a carpenter and painter to do some restoration. "I think duplicating the scroll writing which was on the coach will also be difficult," he added.
Much of the upholstery inside the coach has held up through its 130 years and Hill plans to keep it as it is. "The upholstery is a little faded but it is still in excellent shape."
The wagon wheels, with their metal tires, need to be rebuilt and Hill plans to coat the century-old wood with linseed oil and an oil base paint when refinishing it.
"We're going to make a diagram and label each part" before starting the restoration, Hill said. "And i plan to build a small building to house the coach while we're working on it."
Through older pictures and records, Hill has a good idea of how the stagecoach looked since 1892. Hill took off a section of the upholstery from one of the coach's doors and found the signatures of John Lynch, a worker who helped build the coach in 1849, and William Passmor of Bath, who finished repainting the coach for the Sagadahock House on May 20, 1892.
Capt. Jewell, who also ran the coach on Bath to Rockland routes, sold it to H.A. Huse in 1871, who used it for the hotel. "My grandfather, who was in real estate and was an antique auctioneer, used the coach as a showpiece on the lawn of his home as an attraction," Hill said.
The attraction was also the first vehicle to cross the Carlton Bridge during its dedication on July 2, 1928 and carried 21 people, including Gov. Ralph O. Brewster, across the bridge spanning the Kennebec river.
However, in 1940 Jackson sold the coach to the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, Ariz., a 17,000-acre western ranch, where it was used for tourist rides. In the early 1960s the coach was donated to Arizona State university in Tempe, Ariz. and Hill's mother and father had their picture taken with it there in 1962 when they were in Arizona on a business trip.
In February of 1978 I attended a sales meeting in Arizona and I just thought it would be fun to see it and have my picture taken with it. I had heard so much about it," Hill said.
However when he saw it, Hill realized how much the coach had deteriorated in the 16 years sonce his parents saw it. The university, which accepted the coach in anticipation of including it in a new museum, never saw the museum built and instead loaned the coach out to groups for special rides.
In the early 1970s the stagecoach was borrowed by a group but was never returned. "That's when it was left outside for four or five years," Hill said.
"We have Keith Rhodes of the university to thank. He was the one who realized the coach was missing and he bought it back to the college," Hill added.
"Hill's interest in the stagecoach grew when he discovered the university didn't plan to build a new museum and was interested in putting it on permanent loan or selling it.
The historic coach was auctioned this summer and Hill's sealed bid was the highest of four. "I never really planned on owning it, but all of a sudden I had purchased it and didn't know how I could get it back home," Hill said.
Rowse came to his aid and contacted William Green of Ohio, a mover, who was in Arizona and heading back east several weeks ago. The stagecoach was delivered to Hill's driveway on Sept. 30 where seven of his friends helped him lift it off the truck.
"I haven't the vaguest idea what I'll do with it once it's restored. I'll use it on special occasions but it's eight-feet 11-inches high and I think most of the year I'll have it stored in its building," Hill said.
Rowse has told Hill when totally restored the stagecoach will be worth between $35,000 and $45,000. Hill said a Concord Coach was sold in Kentucky last year for $38,750.
"In this way I look at it as an investment. If I ever have to sell it, it'll be worth something. But in the other way I look at it for its historic value."
"It just looked so terrible. I'd like it to look nice again," Hill said.
